Feeding Frenzy
Feeding Frenzy is the first episode of Tremors: The Series. Melvin sets up a generator that emits a loud noise that agitates El Blanco. Also someone driving around on a motorcycle is causing disruptions with the seismographs. In Universe Perspective From the Survival Journal of Burt Gummer: When my geo-phone net sounded the alarm, I deployed to the entrance of Perfection Valley and found our local Graboid, El Blanco, menacing an adult Caucasian male named Tyler Reed. Mr. Reed informed me that El Blanco had just snagged himself a backpacker. (Damn it, how many times do we have to warn tourists not to wander around the valley without safety equipment?) One concussion grenade later, El Blanco had vamoosed and our newest neighbor was hitching a ride into town with me. At Chang's Market, Tyler told us he'd bought Desert Jack's Tours. Jodi Chang and I gave him the normal safety briefing and Graboid-detection gear. Then El Blanco arrived to give him a training exercise. El Blanco's unusually aggressive behavior was triggering my brain's early-warning system. Next morning, doing recon, I found one dirt-bike track and seven dead, half-eaten burros. They couldn't talk, but they didn't have to. Those burros told me our not-so-friendly neighborhood Graboid was in an unnatural feeding frenzy. Then Rosalita radioed in, screaming that El Blanco was attacking her ranch. Jodi and Tyler extracted her safely, and Tyler brought her to my place. As they arrived, I saw a metallic gleam in the distance, and my equipment went on the fritz. When El Blanco charged us, we had to fall back to my bunker. After that incident, we headed to Chang's Market for a war council. We were all there, even our blustering compadre Agent Twitchell, when El Blanco burst through the floor and commenced wreaking more havoc. Before I could shoot him, I glanced out the window and spotted the same metallic gleam I'd seen earlier. I sighted the target, acquired, fired. Scored a direct hit. With the gleaming device reduced to a smoking ruin, El Blanco excused himself to parts unknown. Tyler and I drove out to investigate the device I'd fragged, and we spotted a dirt-biker speeding away. We pursued him. When we caught up to him, he pulled a gun on us. Tyler, showing a decent instinct for tactics, distracted him and secured the weapon. The biker hopped back on his wheels and fled into a dead-end box canyon. We never caught the biker — but only because El Blanco found him first. All we discovered was a gnawed-up bike and a jittery Melvin Plugg. Melvin, ever the consummate capitalist turd, maintained his innocence, but I'm sure he hired the biker to torment El Blanco with the device. Said device provoked El Blanco to kill, which Melvin hoped would provoke us to kill El Blanco. Then Melvin could turn Perfection Valley into the strip mall of his dreams. With the device destroyed, Melvin was outta luck. So all's quiet at this hour. I gotta say, I'm never thrilled when someone new clutters up Perfection, but Tyler seems to have a good head on his shoulders. I just hope his daredevil attitude doesn't get him turned into Graboid-chow. Plot A man drives into Perfection Valley and notices a sign informing him to stay on the road because of "extreme wildlife danger". Not caring about what the sign says, the man parks on the side of the road to have his picture taken with the sign. He then hears a cry for help and turns to see a backpacker running through the desert. The backpacker is pulled halfway into the ground as the man tries to help him out. However, the backpacker is pulled away and sucked underground as El Blanco chases after the man, now on top his car for safety. However, El Blanco begins to pull it under (he left the radio on) and the man retreats to a small rock for safety. El Blanco tries to grab him, but a small explosion causes him to flee. The man turns to the road to see Burt Gummer standing behind him with his jeep full of armaments. (Opening credits) Burt informs him that he has been "greeted" by El Blanco and that he is unable to kill El Blanco due to him being an endangered species. (Burt is forced to use loud non-lethal concussion grenades to drive El Blanco away) The man informs Burt of the hiker being eaten, which reminds Burt of the time he was eaten (and barely survived escaping) by a Graboid. Burt informs him that there is nothing they can do and then wonders if the car front sticking out of the ground belongs to him, but then goes on about how the sign causes more trouble than saving lives. The man boards Burt's jeep after Burt's sysmographic watch informs him that EL Blanco is returning. Burt then says he knew where he was because he set up sysmos throughout the valley to keep track of El Blanco. Back in Perfection, Melvin is pitching his latest idea to Jodi and fails completely when Nancy interrupts them. Nancy then informs Melvin that Burt's approaching, prompting Melvin to flee. Burt informs the "tourist" who Melvin is then tells Jodi and Nancy of El Blanco's latest kill. Burt then complains how tourists think Perfection is like "Pirates of the damn Caribbean!" The newcomer the tells Burt that he bought Desert Jack's Graboid Tour after meeting with Jack in Vegas. Jodi then informs him that he is now in charge of paying off Jack's debts (he got suckered) while explaining that they can have a good business relationship. Jodi shows him the garage Jack's truck is kept to find Rosalita taking out the engine battery. Jodi then takes him to the store, where Nancy asks him to help fill out a damages report. Introducing himself as Tyler Reed, the newcomer earns one of Burt's "distrust in the government" lines. An alarm goes off an everyone shuts off noise-making electronics and hold up uneven shelves. El Blanco tunnels past them as Burt keeps Tyler quiet. Once El Blanco is a safe distance away, everyone turns the electronics back on. Jodi then hands Tyler a video (starring Burt) for tips on how to live in Perfection and survive attacks from Graboids, Shriekers and Ass Blasters. Tyler then wonders why everyone is so calm about El Blanco being there and is handed a "wrist sysmo" watch to keep him informed of when El Blanco is incoming. Later, Burt is going over his sysmo data on El Blanco's tunneling of that day at home only to notice something messing with his equipment when he goes over it. The next day, Tyler is jumpy about El Blanco being in the valley until Jodi tells him that El Blanco is only near town when the sysmos go off. Elsewhere, Nancy shows Burt a figurine of himself that she made to go with the Graboid merchandise. Burt drives off, leaving Nancy miffed that he didn't say anything. Burt drives out into the valley and finds motorcycle tracks and follows them to find prints in the ground indicating some device had been put there recently. Back in town, Jodi is showing Nancy her latest Graboid-themed idea, a cappuccino. Burt calls in to ask if anyone checked out a wrist sysmo, but Jodi tells him that no one has. Annoyed he might have to save someone again, Burt hangs up and continues driving on until coming upon a herd of half-eaten burros. He calls Jodi back and informs her of El Blanco's latest meal, thinking that he must be full now and that the biker will be safe for now. Burt continues on to find a herd of cattle half-eaten as well. He manages to call Jodi and Nancy and warn them about El Blanco going berserk. However, he cannot get a hold of Rosalita, who's walkie-talkie is off. At Rosalita's ranch, El Blanco approaches. Rosalita notices and retreats to the roof of her house as she calls Burt. After confusion with Burt's radio terms, Burt informs Jodi to pass on the info to the "new guy" and head up to help as well. Jodi tells Tyler about Rosalita's predicament and commandeers her car to speed up their getting to the ranch, him being a former race car driver. They reach Rosalita, but are forced onto the roof with her. They move along the roof and reach Rosalita's car and speed away before El Blanco can catch them. Burt calls them and allows Rosalita to come over to his bunker. In the meantime, they meet up with Twithchell (who has put up yet another sign to warn about taking pictures), the government agent in charge of Perfection. Twitchell tells Tyler he needs to fill out "proof of residency" and agrees to take Jodi back to town. At his place, Burt is working on some wiring and notices something shining in the distance. Rosalita and Tyler arrive and talk about her past before Burt asks if Rosalita is OK. Rosalita complains about Burt being wrong about El Blanco not traveling up to the ranch due to the shallow dirt. Tyler becomes confused as to where Burt's house is until Rosalita points out he lives underground. Burt then points out more tire tracks near his gate, informing them that they should be familiar with their terrain as a survival tip. Burt then notices interference on his sysmograph and comments that its low radio waves causing them. The sysmo watches go off and Burt decides to use his U.S.G.D.S. (Ultra Sonic Graboid Defense System) to stun El Blanco. However, it doesn't work. Everyone flees underground into Burt's bunker. Sometime later, Burt uses a periscope to check above ground to see El Blanco has knocked down his fence and is trying to get over his underground wall. Burt begins to wonder what changed in the environment and thinks Tyler might have something to do with it, However, he then cooks up some cactus to eat (he lost the bars of silver he used to purchase his stuff in the Ass Blaster attack in Tremors 3) and Tyler suggests he start up a survival school to earn income. Burt then notices El Blanco is leaving his compound on the sysmograph screen, causing him more confusion. The next day, in Perfection, Twitchell brings in residency forms for Tyler to sign. Burt comes in with a rifle and Twitchell threatens to sue Burt for attempting to kill an endangered species. However, Burt turns it around and tries to make Twitchell out to be the bad guy as he hates his job. The El Blanco alarm goes off and much to everyone's surprise, he busts through the floor. Twitchell orders Burt to kill El Blanco, but Burt fires at something shining in the distance instead. This somehow cause El Blanco to calm down and leave. Burt decides to investigate what he shot with Tyler tagging along. They arrive at where the shine came from to find a strange machine and begin to wonder who left it there. Burt notices the dirt-biker the tracks belong to and decides to go after him as he is heading into a dead end. They cut him off and the biker pulls out a gun. Burt tries to reason with him as Tyler comes from behind and disarms the biker. The biker takes off and Burt and Tyler take off after him again (with Tyler at the wheel). Elsewhere, the biker meets up with Melvin, who was going to pay him for causing El Blanco's feeding frenzy. However, Melvin refuses and the biker keeps revving the engine. This summons El Blanco just as Burt arrives. Burt is less than pleased to see Melvin again. Melvin tries to put on an act of not having seen the biker until Burt stops him and complains about Melvin's desperate attempts to kick everyone out. Melvin once again tries to deny this but El Blanco spits out the bike and it lands in Melvin's windshield. Burt and Tyler leave. Back in town, Burt gets off the phone with TechonoRanch to learn that the device was to fatten animals safety without dangerous chemicals. Jodi also manages to make her Grabbichinco delicious as Tyler brings in his first tour group. (She had to write out a foreign language for him to speak). However, Tyler messes up and accidentally insults them. Cast Category:Episode